_Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham._--Having employed my leisure for many
years in collecting _materials_ for the biography of the famous Anthony
Bek, Bishop of Durham, I am baffled by the conflicting and contradictory
accounts of,--(1.) The title by which he became possessed of the _Vesci_
estates; (2.) _When_ and by what authority he took upon him the title of
"King of the Isle of Man;" and (3.) How he became dispossessed of that
title, which it is well known that Edward II. bestowed upon Gaveston;
and whether that circumstance did not induce him to take part with the
confederate barons who eventually destroyed that favourite.
Other incongruities occur in my researches, but the above are the most
difficult of solution.